Harvest Souls
by RenaissanceElf
Summary: (Sequel to Missing You) After a talk with Maria Ellie is able to see a bit of Maria's perspective on things... but an urban legend has her even more intrigued as she gets involved protecting a young boy who has little to no courage to stand up to a bully. Ellie takes a dare seriously, but decides to investigate the urban legend more... some things should not be disturbed.
1. A Rumor

**Harvest of Souls**

The month of September flew by so quickly for Ellie. She began attending educational tutoring term that was taught by an old college professor who had taught science and algebra. The other kids were all younger than her. The only kid closest to her age was a thirteen year old boy who appeared much younger and always reserved and timid. Three other boys were between eleven and twelve, and the only other girl was a ten year old who too was quiet and reserved like her brother.

Ellie's subjects mainly focused on biology, math, and some astronomy because the schooling was not an all subject inclusive education. Their lessons lasted no more than five hours with a thirty minute lunch.

The thirteen year old boy was a small blond haired kid with aqua looking blue eyes. Ellie was actually bigger than he was, but made up for it with a bright mind and would join Ellie when they would do their math lessons. Due to all the harvesting, they only had lessons on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Some of the other adults in the compound argued whether now an education was even worth having. Joel leaned more on the practical side that maybe some basic educational skills were necessary, but trade skills were more important for survival. Tommy fell into the same bracket with Joel, but Maria saw the value in having knowledge in other areas. This was debatable among community members.

Ellie really enjoyed biology and astronomy immensely and would surprise Joel with new things she would learn each lesson. Math came easy for Ellie, and sometimes she would assist Luke while Mr. Goldsmith was busy teaching the younger kids. At times, the school thing really tried her nerves because she could see certain scenarios playing out just as it did when she lived in the quarantine zone. She hated bullies.

Luke would get picked on by one especially taller and a bit overweight boy who constantly wanted to eat and never seemed to pay attention. He was just a bit taller than Ellie and had brown unkempt hair with hazel eyes and freckles on his fat cheeks. He always had something witty to say and loved to intimidate. The other three boys seemed to follow him to be with the 'cool crowd' which Ellie could not respect.

It was Saturday near the end of the month in September and Ellie had just returned back home from her and Maria grooming the horses which was an all-day task. Joel hadn't arrived home yet, so she decided she would sit down and read some of her favorite comics Joel had so thoughtfully collected for her. She really appreciated how the heroes seemed to have almost parallel lives to her and Joel only without the super powers. The stories were always fascinating and full of suspense and excitement.

Ellie decided to go out for a walk and suddenly caught the fat kid and his followers down by the west side of the dam cornering Luke.

"Where you going? You're not afraid are you?" Dusty the fat boy mocked.

"…but we're really not supposed to be here" Luke reasoned.

"So what?! Adults don't know shit! You want to be part of us or not!?" Dusty taunted.

"I mean I do but…" Luke whimpered.

"No buts! You either go down in and tag the grate down the west side of the damn or we'll beat you up every day at the end of each school lesson!" Dusty threatened.

Ellie saw what was happening and her face lit bright red. She darted toward the group as Dusty gave Luke a shove as he stood in front of the opening grate. The other three boys saw Ellie and immediately backed away seeing her anger before. Ellie grabbed Dusty by the jacked and with both hands and all her strength slung him off Luke.

"Ow you crazy bitch!" Dusty shouted as he caught himself to keep from falling.

"You watch who you call bitch!" Ellie shook her fist in his fat face.

"Please don't beat us up Ellie" one boy pleaded.

"I get so sick and tired of all of you picking on Luke! Just because someone is weaker than you doesn't give you the right to boss them around!" Ellie scolded angrily.

"What do you think YOU'RE doing!?" Dusty said accusingly.

"Keeping a spoiled fat-so like you in line, we have to live together in this compound. There will be NO bullying!" Ellie threw both her hands out.

"Just because Joel's your dad you think you're the princess of this encampment!" Dusty went on the offensive.

"Sounds like you're just mad because you got de-throned" Ellie pointed out.

"You're just a girl, you don't understand anything what it's like to be a man!" Dusty went on.

"A man!?" Ellie laughed. "Did you just say a man!? Please, don't make me laugh!" Ellie was amused.

The other three boys and Luke just watch Dusty and Ellie go back and forth which wasn't the first time.

"You listen here dipshit! I've killed grown mad men, clickers, and even bloaters to survive, being a man means nothing in my book!" Ellie replied forcefully.

"Yea I've heard my pop talk about yours and about some of the stories he's told over the campfire, I don't believe half of them" Dusty rolled his eyes.

"Fine I'll go down the west drain of the damned dam if it will shut your trap" Ellie yelled right in Dusty's face.

Ellie opened her satchel and took out a flashlight and had her switchblade handy.

"Ellie?" a timid voice spoke up at last.

"What!?" Ellie answered loudly and annoyed.

"I-I'm sorry…I just wanted to know if I could go with you?" Luke volunteered.

"The baby has to go with a girl! Hehehehe!" Dusty laughed getting the other boys to laugh with him.

"The west side was cleared out a long time ago you big dumbass, us going there and back will be no problem!" Ellie told him.

"Fine! Then go! Don't let us hold you back tough girl!" Dusty laughed.

Ellie had an urge to just punch him one good time in the face. She didn't need any weapons to put him in his place. On the other hand, Ellie wasn't scared because Tommy, Joel, and Maria personally cleared the west side of the damn when they first arrived, but closed it off for other various reasons. The engineers hadn't been tinkering in there for well over a month which was curious, and even when they did work it was only during a few hours during the day. Tommy's haunting comment made it that much more interesting. Ellie really didn't want Luke going with her just in case there may be some spores or a straggling clicker even though Ellie was quite sure there wasn't. Ellie was about to go prowling down there but suddenly a worker with a yellow safety hat on happened to be passing by and noticed the kids hanging out by the grate.

"What are you kids doing playing around there!? You all know it aint safe! Get away from there!" he shouted from on top of the dam coming down.

Instantly Dusty and his minions took off running and Ellie and Luke dashed quickly the other way.

"I guess Dusty is right, I'm just a wimp" Luke followed Ellie with his head hung down.

"Wimp or not, he has no right pushing you around" Ellie replied.

"He's really afraid of you though" Luke laughed.

"He should be" Ellie smiled.

"I hope I can be tough like you one day" Luke said hopefully.

"You're going have to man up a little then buddy" Ellie said easily.

"I know, that's what dad always tells me" Luke hung his head back down sighing.

Luke was wearing a beige sweater and a pair of jeans with an old pair of sneakers. He had a windswept style his hair always seemed to naturally go in.

"Well, you do what you feel is good, but always have survival skills. Don't worry, if your dad won't teach you, I will" Ellie promised.

"Really?" Luke looked up with a bit of light in his eyes.

"Hell yea! I'll teach you how to shoot a bow, that's important for hunting and all" Ellie replied.

"That sounds cool, I have a couple of slingshots I made that can shoot a stone almost forty yards from what I measured" Luke shared.

"Really? You made your own slingshot?" Ellie was a bit surprised.

"Well since my dad does a lot of wood crafting I figured I would have to be able to do it some" Luke shrugged.

"Well cool you can show it to me sometime later this week then. Listen it's getting late, you should probably be getting home" Ellie said as they returned to the main square of the compound.

"Ok…but what about the west…" Luke started to ask.

"Shhh…. Keep quiet about that, we'll talk more about that later ok?" Ellie put a finger over her lips.

"Gotcha!" Luke nodded and bolted across back to his home.

Ellie took her time getting back to the house thinking about what she was going to do about helping Luke. When she entered her home Joel was waiting patiently for her resting on the couch. She looked up near where they had a sink and a fair sized not quite ripe pumpkin sat on the counter. It had a crude face carved into it already. Ellie nodded acknowledging Joel's little bit of artistic skills he had.

"You getting' hungry?" Joel asked slowly sitting up.

"Yea, it's been a long day…nice jack lantern!" Ellie complimented.

"Thanks…we'll go over to Tommy and Maria's in a few minutes" Joel yawned.

Ellie sat her knapsack in her corner and sat down in the chair next to the couch.

"What you got on your mind?" Joel asked reading her.

"I just feel bad for Luke" Ellie came out and said it.

"Oh you mean Dale's boy?" Joel stretched.

"Yea…fat boy just doesn't let up" Ellie nodded.

"Yea, he's a pretty boy and life a bit harder for boys like him" Joel nodded.

"Well I'm going to help him out some" Ellie announced.

"Now don't get yourself too wrapped up in kids' affairs Ellie" Joel warned.

"Joel, I am a kid" Ellie pointed out.

"Yea, but you're 15, and he's only 13 and hasn't seen nearly half of what you've seen" Joel explained.

"How do you know?" Ellie asked eagerly.

"Cause I spoke to Dale and about him his boy and girl, they were from Kansas City and apparently they were already out of the city when shit went bad" Joel continued.

"What about their mom?" Ellie asked.

"Don't know, they were already divorced according to Dale" Joel said putting on his boots.

"Oh…" Ellie sat thoughtfully.

"Listen Ellie, I know you mean well, but it's best not to get too attached to anyone outside the family" Joel suggested after he finished tying his other shoe.

"Why? You think things could go that wrong around here?" Ellie asked seriously.

"Well we've both seen all kinds of stuff go down…look, I'm not telling you who and who you can't be friends with, all I'm saying is protect yourself" Joel treaded easily.

"I understand, but we can't live life under a shell Joel" Ellie disagreed.

"Fine…let's just go get some grub, I'm starving!" Joel said changing the subject.

**XXXXXXXXXXXX**

Dinner time over at Tommy and Maria's was about the same as ever. Vegetable stew from earlier only with some sliced apples that they had collected from the apple tree they had growing next to their living quarters. Apple trees were ubiquitous around the compound and some people had peach and cherry trees growing as well. Once most of the fruit was collected was canned for later use or made into tasty jam.

They sat at the table again Tommy telling Joel more about how they were able to get more power going around the compound. Maria sat quietly enjoying her stew and drinking some hot tea. Ellie finally decided to ask what's really been on her mind since last her and Maria spoke.

"Joel, Tommy, why is the west side of the damn closed down?" Ellie came right out with it.

"One of the workers told me he saw a mess of kids hanging out around the west grate" Tommy said looking at Ellie ignoring her question.

"Did he see who there were?" Joel asked curiously.

"Well he definitely saw George's fat boy running around like a hog with the other three hoodlums" Tommy mentioned.

"I swear that fat boy thinks he owns this place since his daddy's an engineer" Joel rubbed his forehead.

"He also said…" Tommy started when Ellie quietly made eye contact with Tommy shaking her head rapidly.

"He also said what?" Joel asked looking Tommy in the eye.

"Oh…it aint important" Tommy said stuffing his face with more vegetable stew.

"Is anyone going to answer my question?" Ellie spoke up again.

"Well…" Tommy said getting a glare from Maria.

"Some people, made up a game back in the day we used to call Ouija board and decided late one evening to go in the upper west side of the damn and play it" Tommy started.

"Tommy, I'd rather you not talk about such things" Maria simply requested.

"Sounds like a pretty cool game, but why not just play it at home?" Ellie asked.

"I can't tell ya anymore, don't wanna make Maria mad" Tommy looked at her.

"Ah come on Maria, what was it?" Ellie pressed.

"I told you Ellie, some things should never be messed with, and that's _one_ of them" Maria emphasized.

"I don't understand, if it's only a game, then what's the harm?" Ellie still couldn't comprehend the tension all the sudden.

"It's not a game, that's why! Can we talk about something else?" Maria politely asked.

"No, I'm old enough to know about a silly board that's a game or not" Ellie wasn't going to back down.

"Ellie! Let's talk about something else ok honey?" Joel raised his voice only for a moment.

"…Ok fine!" Ellie said slowly finishing her dinner quiet the rest of the time.

"I think I'm going out for a smoke, you guys go ahead and tell her, I don't want to hear it" Maria said getting up from the table after a few minutes of Ellie sitting with an upset look.

"Now Maria you don't have to" Joel said politely.

"No, she's just going to have to learn on her own…that's how I was" Maria said closing the door behind her.

"Don't look at me, I didn't say anything" Ellie put her hands up when Joel looked back at her.

"It's no big deal really" Tommy brushed it all off.

"Ok, so if it's not a game, then what is it?" Ellie placed him back on his train of thought.

"Well according to other accounts, it's supposed to be used for talking to the dead" Tommy came out with it.

"What!? Are you serious?! This is what had Maria so upset?!" Ellie sat up and couldn't believe it.

"Yes" Tommy answered.

"So, basically some people took the board in there and used it to contact some dead person and then weird shit started happening?" Ellie hypothetically asked.

"Yea, that was pretty much the size of it. There were some strange events that took place not long after they did what they did" Tommy went on.

"Ok, now I'm curious, when you say 'they' whose 'they'?" Joel finally asked slightly amused himself.

"We had about five huge families of Romanian Gypsies who lived with us for a while who had different beliefs than most people which wasn't a problem at first. They were different and brought different ways and ideas into the community which was a bit refreshing. A couple months later some of the family's oldest sons joined one of hunting groups which of course you know they don't just hunt for food; but, also scavenge for supplies in surrounding areas. About this time last year when they went out, they were ambushed by a group of bandits and then ran into a group of clickers on the way back out of a town. The oldest sons didn't make it back" Tommy paused reading the reaction on Joel and Ellie's faces.

"Well don't stop there" Joel spun his hand around not liking to be left hanging.

"Yea, keep it goin' Tommy!" Ellie complained.

"The families after losing two of their own began retreatin' to themselves. They didn't participate in many community activities except for the ones everyone was required to contribute. Everyone at first thought well that's a normal response when you lose a loved one. Things became even stranger when the night before Halloween arrived they snuck in the west side of the dam in the upper half. Two of our men who lived here were suspicious of the group and went spying on them. They reported hearing them chant in their own language seeing candle flames shoot up without any kind of fuel, and items flew across the area that they had brought in. They said at one point they saw a shadow move across the wall that didn't belong to any of the six Gypsies that were taking part in the 'Game'" Tommy paused again.

"So after that night, weird shit started happening in that sector of the dam and workers refused to go in there several months after some 'scary incidents'" Tommy stopped when Maria returned back inside.

"Wicked! So what happened to the Gypsy families?" Ellie asked with much interest.

"They left on their own will with a few members who were here since they were mostly ostracized by most of the inhabitants here in our community" Tommy concluded.

"Are you finished Tommy?" Maria looked at him suspiciously.

"Yea, we're finished here Maria, sorry about that. I think it's about time for us to hit the hay ourselves" Joel yawned.

"Good luck sleeping after listening to all of that" Maria said nervously collecting the bowls.

"Ok yall! Sleep tight!" Tommy smiled.

"Night everyone!" Ellie waved.

"Night to ya too!" Joel said as he and Ellie returned back home.

Once they arrived back at the house Joel and Ellie changed to prepare to settle in for the night.

"I'm going bed dad" Ellie shouted out.

Joel came over to tuck her in and wish her good night but then all these ideas had him wondering.

"You don't buy into that garbage do you?" Joel asked.

"I mean, not normally, but it is interesting at the very least you have to admit" she shrugged.

"I don't buy into any of those shenanigans, and if even if were real, why would you want to mess with something that could possibly hurt you?" Joel asked rhetorically. "Well, you get you a good night's rest baby girl, love ya!" Joel said turning out the light.

"Love you too daddy!" Ellie said as Joel got into his bed.


	2. The Fright

** The Fright**

The next day came quickly as Ellie woke up at seven in the morning. Joel was already gone with Tommy to continue helping out with the harvest and other daily activities. Ellie stretched getting herself some milk from the jug they had in the small icebox they had which for some reason wasn't working. She quickly dressed after washing up and rushed down to the corner building where their school lessons were conducted. When she arrived she found a note on the door which said lessons would be cancelled today due to the high yields of harvest. Luke arrived ahead of Dusty and his teasing goons.

"No school today, you may as well go home" Ellie said with a bit of disappointment.

"No school?! That means we'll have to help with the harvest" Luke echoed Ellie's sentiment slinging his back pack on the ground.

"I have a feeling the harvest isn't the reason why the Professor isn't here" Ellie explained.

"Dad was complaining because the power went out late last night…but I guess we better go help with the harvest" Luke sighed.

"Well no one ever said it would be an easy life kid" Ellie nodded hearing the sound of laughter from Dusty and his gang.

"That says no school?!" Dusty exclaimed a bit excited.

"You can read can't you?" Ellie replied sarcastically.

"Hey guys! No lessons today!" Dusty sounded jubilant.

"That's too cool!" one of the boys shouted.

"Yea!" another added.

"Hey, what about yesterday's dare?" the third boy brought the topic back up.

"Oh that's right! So big sis, are you going to go in the west side of the dam or not?" Dusty started in.

"First of all, I'm NOT your sis! Second, would you shut the hell up about that?! Plus, we got to get down and help with the harvest" Ellie countered.

"That's ok, we can understand why you feel that way if you're chicken shit" Dusty taunted.

"I'm about to show you who's chicken shit if you don't shut your trap!" Ellie threatened with her fist up then turned around and started walking away.

"Where you going Ellie?" Luke ran after her.

"Going home to get some supplies, I'm going in the west side of the dam to shut that fat fucker up and his butt buddies" Ellie replied.

"We'll meet you down there!" one boy shouted.

"Yea, unless she's chicken shit" Dusty said loud enough for Ellie to hear.

"One of these days he's going to really piss me off" Ellie said quietly to Luke.

"He would deserve it" Luke agreed.

"Na, I can't…I don't want to make problems for my dad, he and my uncle have enough riding on them" Ellie shook her head in frustration.

The compound only had a few people going about their business taking care of other daily chores. When they arrived at the house Ellie noticed something a little strange.

"Whoa! Ellie check out your pumpkin patch!" Luke pointed out on the side.

"Yea I know, dad planted them there no more than a month ago and they just seem to sprout really quickly…wait right here I'll be right back" Ellie acknowledged then stepped in her house.

Luke waited only a couple of minutes before Ellie popped out with a knapsack and a flashlight.

"This is going to be creepy, who knows what we'll find in there" Luke commented as they made their way to the west side of the dam.

"What is this 'we'?" Ellie looked at him funny.

"I'm going with you—" Luke started.

"Na, it's too dangerous, something happens to you, my dad and I will catch all kinds of hell" Ellie disagreed.

"But Dusty and the others will continue to pick on me if I don't go" Luke argued.

"They're always going to pick on you! That's just the kind of people they are" Ellie shook her head.

The two of them quieted down as the approached the grate entrance that led into the lower side of the west part of the dam. Dusty and his three stooges sat low near the grate.

"So maybe you aren't so chicken shit after all" Dusty said absently.

"Would you just shut the fuck up!" Ellie said feeling her temper rise.

"Oooooo!" the other three boys sounded egging it on.

Ellie took a flashlight and a pistol out of her knapsack.

"Your dad lets you use a gun!?" Dusty asked in disbelief.

"Yea! What's it to you!?" Ellie replied sarcastically as she slowly opened the grate shining the flashlight inside. It was dark and damp as the tunnel led inward, but from what she could see nothing seemed out of the ordinary. She took a deep breath then in she went. After a few steps she felt a presence and spun around almost blinding Luke.

"Luke! Come on man! We already agreed!" Ellie complained a bit annoyed.

"Please!" Luke pleaded.

"No, I'm not taking another step until you step back outside of the grate" Ellie said firmly.

"Ok…guess I'm going to get beat up…" Luke sighed trying to put Ellie on a guilt trip as she watched him step back outside as the grate squeaked open.

"What's the matter big baby?!" Dusty taunted immediately grabbing Luke by his back pack as soon as he came out.

"She didn't want me going with her!" Luke tried to explain as Dusty pushed him against the wall.

"Hehehehehe!" the other boys laughed.

"What's so funny?" Luke asked as Dusty cracked a smiled still with a hand on Luke's shoulder pinning him to the wall.

"Even Ellie sees how worthless you are!" Dusty taunted.

"Dusty it's the wall police!" another boy whispered low.

"Shit! That's all we need! Come on, we'll just stand inside by the entrance!" Dusty motioned for everyone to step inside the grate shoving Luke in first. Everyone was quiet for a moment then all was at ease.

"It's dark back in there!" one of Dusty's friends commented.

"Oh shut up! Ellie's back there, and if there is something there it will get her first" Dusty laughed.

Luke took a deep breath and took off running into the darkness with his back pack.

"Where do you think you're going!?" one boy shouted after him.

"Yea that's right, go follow her you wimp! That should ensure nothing will get to us. That will be two people we can't stand that we'll be rid of" Dusty laughed haughtily.

Luke kept running until the light filtering inside the bottom of the west side of the grate was no longer present. He blindly opened his back pack taking out his hand crafted sling shot and felt for one of the rounded stones he had collected near the river. His heart was pounding but he didn't want to start crying out for Ellie. He was afraid the others would hear his voice echoing and give them another reason to make fun. He began feeling his way by the wall taking each step slowly. At this rate he figured he wouldn't catch up with Ellie. He could hear every little noise that sounded, including the sound of scurrying little feet he hoped were only rats. Part of him really did want to turn back, but he couldn't bear the shame he would receive so he blindly kept going.

**XXXXXXXXX**

The corridor underneath seemed to go a long way, but Ellie knew it was the part of the perimeter of the compound stone wall. Once she advanced further, she noticed small ventilation shafts near the ceiling that allowed some daylight in. Then almost several minutes later she came to a metallic ladder that was bolted to the wall with a sealed hatch at the top.

"Great! How am I going to open that?" Ellie thought not really seeing any tools whatsoever that would help her do so. Ellie carefully climbed the ladder and tried to push the seal open but it was too tight for her to budge.

"Shit!" Ellie thought until she heard a noise not too far off in the distance that alerted her.

Ellie became quiet and shined the flashlight behind her as she jumped down off the ladder. She quietly crept back the way she came until she heard more shuffling.

"Whose there?" Ellie said in a normal tone holding up her pistol and light at the same time as she heard a sudden thump on the ground.

"Don't shoot!" Ellie heard Luke's panicky voice.

"Luke!" Ellie sighed in aggravation.

"Sorry, but Dusty and the others pushed me in the entrance and I couldn't take them pushing me around so I took off ahead" Luke explained as Ellie helped him up.

"What did you trip on?" Ellie asked looking around until she saw a crowbar.

"Just what I need!" Ellie changed her tone quickly picking up the crowbar.

"Oh cool, we have evidence we came all the way back so we can go back now?" Luke said hopefully.

"Are you kidding? I want to go up in the abandoned side so I can see what the big deal is about this place. Come on, give me a hand with the hatch so we can go up" Ellie motioned for him to follow.

Luke and Ellie were both small enough to get up and place the crowbar in the crack of the hatch.

"Ok, when I say pull, pull!" Ellie instructed.

"1…2…3 PULL!" Ellie prompted as they started pulling down. Within a few second the hatch flew open.

A sudden dry coldness began filtering down through the hatch giving both Ellie and Luke a chill.

"Who left the cold air on!? Sheesh!" Ellie commented as they climbed up into the main west side of the damn.

"I don't think there's any power here" Luke shook his head.

"Wait a second, there's a generator over there near where the bride of the dam connects" Ellie pointed out in the big warehouse like area. There was also a door that led outside on the main part of the dam.

"That generator over there, dad says it works when it wants to" Luke said as they crept through the place. Only some daylight came through from the windows up above. Spools of cable, toolboxes, and other various items were strewn about the floor. A pile of janitorial equipment lie scattered near a set of lockers. The place looked deserted as if it had been awhile since anyone had come in to do any work. Luke stayed close to Ellie with his slingshot in one hand.

"I don't see what the big deal is with this place" Ellie said when they finally found a little office in one corner.

The office was completely walled in with the door shut. The only window was a small rectangular slit almost near the top.

"Let's go check that out" Ellie said with her curiosity piquing.

"Ellie something tells me we shouldn't go near there" Luke said suddenly feeling a shivering sensation again.

"Don't give me that! You're the one who wanted to come on this expedition" Ellie egged him on.

Luke sighed and followed Ellie through the debris filled floor, but when Ellie tried to open the door it was locked.

"You see, it's locked. Let's go home" Luke quickly replied.

"Why is there a red X painted on this door?" Ellie suddenly asked.

"Probably a warning not to enter…please Ellie" Luke pleaded.

The thin window was too high for Ellie or Luke to see without something to stand on.

"I'm going to boost you up Luke and I want you to shine the light in there and have a look" Ellie said putting her hands together to give Luke a foothold.

"Then we can go?" Luke asked.

"Yes Luke! After this!" Ellie rolled her eyes.

Luke put away his slingshot and took the flashlight and put his right foot in Ellie's hands as she boosted him high enough where he could look into the window. He carefully aimed the light inside the office door window and took a glance. There was an office seat in the middle with a filing cabinet in the corner with no desk. The wall had weird symbols painted in red on the walls. Luke took another look on the floor and saw an upside down pentagram painted in red with halfway used melted black candles at each of the five points. Luke contorted his face strangely.

"What do you see?!" Ellie asked a bit curious watching the expression on Luke's face.

"I see some weird stuff and-!" Luke answered as his eyes suddenly grew wide in horror and he lost his balance dropping the flashlight almost falling on top of Ellie.

"Hey! Are you ok?" Ellie asked looking at Luke as slowly got back up. His eyes remained wide in terror and his face became pale.

"Luke!" Ellie almost shouted getting his attention back.

"I-I saw a shadow move…" Luke said nervously.

"Can we please leave!" Luke begged as Ellie noted something must have frightened him badly.

At that moment both of them felt the temperature almost drop at least ten to fifteen degrees Fahrenheit.

"What the hell!?" Ellie said rubbing her hands together then bending down to pick up the flashlight.

Suddenly the generator turbine began to slowly turn creating an unusual humming sound. Ellie looked at the huge generator suspiciously.

"What was it you saw?" Ellie grabbed a hold of Luke almost shaking him. Luke was about to open his mouth when something not too far that sounded like a box of tools fell crashing to the cement floor.

"Ok Luke you win! Let's get the Hell out of here!" Ellie said grabbing Luke by the wrist with one hand and her gun in the other quickly dragging him along back to the hatch opening. Something else fell as Ellie made Luke go down the hatch first with her gun pointing in every direction until he had gotten down safely. She quickly grabbed the hatch handle and slammed it shut behind them. Both sprinted for a minute as their hearts pounded. After a few minutes of rushing back to the exit they slowed down to catch their breath.

"What did you see Luke?" Ellie asked curiously.

"S-Shadow…" was all he would say obviously traumatized.

"A shadow?!" Ellie asked a bit flabbergasted. "It was probably your own or it belonged to an object in the room?" Ellie rationalized.

"N-no, it wasn't…it looked like it belonged to s-someone… with…" Luke stammered as they continued out the exit.

"Someone?! Who!?" Ellie kept pushing him to describe it more, but their conversation was cut short as there were three workers with safety hats who had Dusty and his friends sitting against the wall outside.

"Oh shit!" Ellie sighed stomping her foot with disgust as Luke just stood there with a blank face.


	3. Haunted

**Haunted**

Joel sat quietly once he got home already hearing about the incident from some of the gate patrol workers, but he wanted to hear from Ellie what happened. Tommy was too busy with more important issues to get involved with something minor like this but would eventually hear about it. Ellie knew Joel usually liked a few minutes of peace and quiet when he arrived home. He would most likely be disappointed in her and for taking a childish dare because it probably wasn't the smartest thing. Ellie checked the ice box they had and thankfully it was working again. Something cold to drink was always something Ellie liked even if it was just water.

Joel came in as usual acting as if nothing was wrong. He took his jacket off but left his safety hat on. He went to the ice box to get some of the chilled brewed beer he was given by one of his co-workers. He sat down and took off his boots and stretched out on the couch. He was quiet for almost ten minutes drinking his beer out of an old mason jar.

"Ok so tell me what happened today" Joel finally spoke up.

"Well it started like this…" Ellie began to explain still with her comic book held up.

Joel sat and listened while looking at an old painting they had hanging in their main room of a tranquil mountain and forest below.

"Well Luke hasn't said a word according to the workers and his dad, he won't speak. Something really scared the shit out of that boy, but then again I wouldn't think it would take much" Joel rationalized.

"I didn't actually see what he saw, but shit was falling inside the main building of the west side and the area became suddenly frigid. I had goose bumps and not because I was scared" Ellie elaborated putting her comic down.

"The other four boys were caught hanging out by the grate. That place is a mess, but somehow they say the generator in there started working for almost an hour then just stopped" Joel replied.

"It came on by itself! I'm telling you, there's something wacky going on up there!" Ellie swore.

"Are you sure you weren't tampering with it? Don't lie to me Ellie" Joel asked skeptically.

"Scout's honor, plus how would we know how to fix such a machine?" Ellie replied quickly.

"Did he tell you what he saw?" Joel asked giving her the benefit of the doubt but thought maybe it was all in their heads.

"He said at first everything seemed normal, but he saw a star with a circle and candles and the more he shined the light in the office he said he saw a shadow of a person move across the wall in the back. There was nobody in there" Ellie paused.

"Sounds like that story about the devil worshipers" Joel sighed.

"Do you believe him?" Joel asked.

"…I don't know, it's all just too strange, even for me" Ellie shifted in her seat getting comfortable getting the chills just thinking about it.

"So just who's idea was it again?" Joel asked as Ellie sat in her chair withdrawing back into her comics while got up and paced back and forth still wearing his safety hat.

"I told you already, Dusty was being a douche bag to Luke, then he dared me and I couldn't back down" Ellie explained.

"How old are you again and how old is Dusty?" Joel asked.

"That's not the point" Ellie closed her comic book sitting up in her chair as Joel took off his hat sitting back the sofa then rubbing his face.

"No! That IS the point, you're 15 and he's not even 13 yet! You're supposed to be more mature than that Ellie! Damn it, you should be making a good example" Joel ranted.

"No dad! The point is that yea, I know Luke is a wimp, but Dusty and his friends are a bunch of pussies themselves for pushing around someone weaker!" Ellie expressed her opinion strongly.

"You can't fight other people's fights for them honey!" Joel explained calming himself down.

"I'm sorry dad Luke's like a kid brother to me that I never had. Someone has to help him" Ellie continued.

"So let his dad teach him how to be a man" Joel sighed. "Jesus Christ, I'm going to need something, I'm getting a headache from all of this" Joel muttered under his breath.

"That's the problem Joel, I don't think his dad really gives a shit" Ellie continued.

"Ok, ok, listen, all of you are asked to stay away from the west side of the dam, and Ellie I expect you to listen ok?" Joel said trying to bring the conversation down a couple levels of tension.

"Fine" Ellie nodded reluctantly.

"You're the oldest of the youngest. Everyone is going to look at you first. Not Dusty, Timmy, Mikey, or Chris" Joel went on.

Ellie was a bit frustrated and picked her comic book up and began to finish reading it again for the tenth time.

"I'm sorry, but when shit like this happens it looks bad on me, and since I'm Tommy's brother it reflects back on him" Joel kicked back on the couch to take a nap.

Ellie only shook her head in response.

"Let's try not to talk about it at dinner tonight, I don't want Maria getting upset" Joel finished.

Ellie thought about the situation and couldn't come up with any logical reason how a box of tools would just move by itself in a way that it could fall. The more she thought about it, the creepier it became; yet, it was fascinating at the same time. All of these thoughts were slowly making her sleepy. Joel woke up about an hour and half later still tired but slowly got his self motivated. Ellie had fallen asleep in her chair with three of the comics on the stand next to her and a fourth one in her hand.

Ellie was suddenly inside the main building of the west side of the dam when she woke up. Her chair was in the middle of it next to a crate with a toolbox and many scattered tools. Ellie quickly sat up looking around more than a bit alarmed. She looked to the left and saw the back of Luke dressed in a set of green pajamas and a pair of white slippers. He stood still holding a flashlight in front of him and slowly began to walk ahead.

"Shit! Luke!" Ellie reacted jumping out of her seat running on the concrete floor after Luke.

"Luke! Where are you going!?" Ellie grabbed him by the arm looking ahead.

"I have to show you something" Luke said slowly leading her to the corner office.

"I don't think this is such a good idea" Ellie said as they slowly continued to the corner office.

Luke nodded and remained silent until they reached the office door. Luke pointed to the door and the handle began to turn on its own until it slowly creaked open. Ellie looked inside and saw the upside down pentagram with the black melted candles at each point. There were red blotches all over the place, but in a sudden flash, she saw a group of people all wearing black sitting at each point with hands joined chanting in a language she could not understand. After a couple of seconds the office returned back to its original state she first saw it in.

"They're calling it" Luke whispered.

"Calling what?" Ellie asked as they stood ten feet in front of the open door.

Another flash of light and Ellie could see all the people again but couldn't see beyond the backs of everyone inside until she heard a horrible squealing sound and could see blood rushing from the circle. The chanting became even louder as she saw a pig's head raised above everyone else. In the background Ellie could see shadows dancing all over the walls from all the candle lights until all the dancing silhouettes seemed to come together into one shadow. The shadow began extending on the floor from the corner office toward them. It took a big humanoid form except the head had a couple of what appeared to be horns protruding from its head.

"We gotta get the hell out of here!" Ellie said grabbing Luke by the wrist dragging him back the opposite way.

Ellie looked back and could see the scenery in the office changing back and forth from one with people chanting in black clothes to an empty room. She could see the shadows spilling out of the room onto the floor behind them.

"Don't stop running Luke!" Ellie said as she looked for the hatch they came through when they entered earlier that day.

The hatch was just ahead, but it was closed.

"Luke! Help me turn the valve on this hatch!" Ellie said as she quickly tried to turn it.

Luke applied all his strength but the hatch would only slowly budge. The shadow was coming and as Ellie looked back one more time the shadow popped off the floor making a growling sound as it lunged for both of them startling Ellie back awake.

"Baby girl, time to eat" Joel whispered to her.

Ellie's eyes opened wide as she woke with a start breathing heavily. Joel looked at the old wind-up clock Tommy had given him and realized they had overslept. Ellie looked at Joel then around her to make sure she was back at home.

"You ok?" Joel looked at her as she seemed to be startled.

"Um…yea, I'm ok" Ellie shook her head putting her comic back on the stand.

"That was some crazy shit!" Ellie thought.

"Ok remember, don't bring up the incident" Joel reminded her.

**XXXXXXXX**

When they arrived at Tommy and Maria's home they were already eating and the plates and cutlery had already been set. When Tommy let them in he didn't seem his usual somewhat cheery self. Maria didn't seem to be in a good mood.

"Did you over sleep or something?" Tommy asked as he casually led them to the table.

Maria was silently eating only acknowledging them with a nod. There was a fresh loaf of bread, a big bowl full of a garden style salad, and some more cooked leftover ham.

"I sure am hungry" Joel commented when he sat down.

"Help yourself" Tommy encouraged as he and Ellie fixed their plates.

For almost ten minutes they ate in silence until Tommy finally spoke up again.

"So I spoke to George, Luke's dad, and his boy will not speak" Tommy commented.

"Well Ellie told me they saw, well uh…some stuff in that locked up corner office in the main west dam building" Joel answered.

"So what did y'all see in there Ellie" Tommy finally came out and asked.

Maria sat quietly not even looking up as she poured herself a shot of the distilled spirits some neighbors had made.

"I didn't see anything…but Luke did. He said he saw an upside down star in a circle with candles around it. There were red stains everywhere and…" Ellie paused as Maria suddenly got up from the table.

"I told you not to go messing around up there didn't I?" Maria suddenly snapped.

"Look, I'm sorry, I did something stupid ok!?" Ellie shot back.

"Not as sorry as you're going to be for going up there… I really believe there was something evil those people left behind up there" Maria ranted.

"Maria would you calm down please! Don't tell me you really believe in that shit!?" Tommy finally spoke up getting aggravated.

"No! Why don't you calm the hell down! I'm sorry—I need a smoke" Maria said getting up and leaving the table.

"Maria! I said I was sorry!" Ellie started to get up.

"No, let her be for right now. That was some weird shit with those gypsies and all" Tommy continued.

"So go ahead and tell Tommy what it was that you did see" Joel prompted Ellie.

"Like I said, I didn't see anything, except somehow shit kept falling to the floor that had no possible way of falling and the room became ice cold—almost as if someone had turned on a freezer" Ellie finished.

"Well all the boys got a good scolding, please don't encourage them anymore" Tommy asked.

"A couple guys are going to have a look up there later" Tommy said as Joel and Ellie finished their meal.

"Hey Ellie pass me the moonshine" Joel asked taking it from Ellie when she handed it to him.

"Pour me a shot to bro" Tommy said holding out another shot glass.

Both men took a hard shot both tilting their head back.

"Woooo! That's some good shit" Joel smiled.

"This batch is good, the last bit they had gave you a hangover from hell" Tommy shook his head.

"Is Luke alright?" Ellie finally asked.

"He seems fine, but just doesn't seem to have much to say right now" Tommy shrugged.

"Tomorrow's going to be a busy day working harvest and on the East side generator" Joel sighed.

"Yea, I'll be glad when the professor is able to get a permanent fix for the East side generator and to work up some schematics we can use to build some wind turbines" Tommy explained.

"Those will be easy to maintain so we will always have power…well Tommy, I think Ellie and I are going to turn in for the evening. I hope Maria will be alright" Joel said getting up from the table.

"She'll be alright, just make sure Ellie leaves the "ghosts" alone" Tommy joked.

"Yea right!" Ellie finally cracked a smile, but still was startled by her dream.

After eating Ellie just wanted to go home and lie down as the food seemed to lay on her stomach. Joel wasn't up much longer until he too went to bed. Luckily Ellie didn't have any more disturbing dreams. When she woke up she felt much better, but could hear voices outside once she stepped out of her room. It was still fairly early and dark outside. She stood by the door and could hear Joel outside talking. Ellie quietly cracked the door to see Tommy and Joel out there.

"So how did he die?" Joel asked.

"We don't know…" Tommy shrugged with a grave look on his face.

"Was he bitten by any infected or exposed to any spores?" Joel asked.

"Not from what we could tell…they found not one injury on him and his mouth and eyes were wide open as if something had literally scared the living hell out of him" Tommy explained.

"Sounds like maybe he had a heart attack?" Joel speculated.

"At thirty-nine?" Tommy seemed a bit skeptical.

"Where did they find him?" Joel asked putting on his jacket.

"Over near the west side of the dam" Tommy shook his head.

Ellie put her hand over her mouth remembering her dream. That dream was no coincidence she kept thinking to herself. What was happening and why?


	4. Witch's Almanac

**Witch's Almanac**

Ellie woke up and quickly got ready while Joel was still busy doing things inside and outside around the house. Ellie dashed to the bathroom and took a quick hot bath washing up and prepared to go down to the school building. She could feel the tension in her skin as she got ready wondering if she and Luke would be held responsible for the recent events. The local folk have been good people over the years as they've managed to get rid of most of the trouble makers, but there were still those who were truly set in their ways. So far, not a whole lot had been said.

Ellie threw on a pair of black jeans and an unsoiled red suede jacket Joel had brought back from a hunt a few weeks ago. She always liked getting unsoiled stuff from stores that had merchandise that had not been touched. When Ellie got out, Joel was standing by the front window peeking out.

"Morning!" Joel turned around nodding.

"What's up?" Ellie asked already knowing the answer.

"Someone died last night…" Joel paused.

"They did!? How? Was it a hunter? Infected?" Ellie asked.

"That's the problem, we don't know" Joel ran hand through his hair racking his brain.

"So…." Ellie didn't know what to say.

"Are you sure there wasn't someone in there?" Joel suddenly spun around expecting Ellie to have an answer for him.

"I didn't see anyone…I just heard shit falling—I mean it could be possible there was" Ellie shrugged.

"Do me favor and talk to that boy…Luke. It seems like he still aint talkin'" Joel walked back to the window.

"I'll do what I can…" Ellie picked up her back pack filled with the couple text books she had.

"Ok, I gotta go, try to stay out of trouble, love ya!" Joel said quickly walking over to Ellie giving her a hug.

"I will, love ya too" Ellie nodded as Joel put on his baseball cap taking off walking.

Ellie locked up the house and dashed off to school house. The Professor sat at his desk as Dusty sat in the corner with his clique. Luke sat in the opposite corner alone quietly reading a book. The Professor sat quietly shifting papers back and forth into folders then got up and began writing on the chalkboard. Everyone looked up at the board anxious to see what today's activities would be. Strangely enough, today's activity was something completely unexpected. In addition to the normal lessons, an assignment to do a book report on Halloween was posted.

The Professor was a plain looking man. He had a little extra weight to him and had somewhat round clean shaven face with a pointy nose. He usually had his coal black hair combed over to the side and wore a beige sports jacket, pair of black trousers, and an old pair of penny loafers. Today was different as far as his sense of fashion was concerned. He turned around to address them after finishing the last punctuation mark with a loud thud of the chalk hitting the board.

"I am aware of the incidents involving the west side of the dam from yesterday…" the Professor said adjusting his coveralls which was not his usual dress.

"I'm disappointed in all of you, but I trust you will not disappoint again. So, since it's October and everyone is familiar with a holiday which is celebrated by eating countless tooth rotting sweets and dancing around in silly costumes parading around running amok…" the Professor paused putting on a ball cap.

"I want all of you to work in pairs and write a book report on Halloween. Luke, Ellie pair one. Dusty, Timmy, pair two. Mikey, Chris, you two will be the last pair" the Professor paused walking over to the back where there were several long book shelves.

"There are plenty of books here where between all of you should be enough. I want the report written NEATLY and turned in BEFORE Halloween" the Professor stressed his words.

"After you copy down your assignments for today, I want all of you to pick out a book each. I'm afraid I'm going to have to leave all of you again today so let's hustle it up please" the Professor finished going back to his office.

"Luke? What's up?" Ellie said joining him in the back of the classroom.

"I got in trouble yesterday" was all Luke would say as they got up to find books.

"How so?" Ellie asked.

"Luke! Puke! Luke! Puke!" the boys started chanting.

"Shut up!" Ellie said flipping them off.

"Professor! Ellie's giving us the bird again!" Timmy shouted.

"Good, you probably deserved it! Now shut up and get back to work!" the Professor shouted from his office.

Luke quickly found a book while Dusty and the other boys were still looking and giggling amongst each other.

"So what happened?" Ellie whispered as she scanned the far book shelf trying to find something other than using a twenty year-old encyclopedia.

"My dad yelled at me" Luke whispered.

"At least he's talking" Ellie thought.

"That's not too bad…my dad gave a shout or two at me as well. You want to do some archery after this?" Ellie asked sensing Luke's sedate mood.

"I can't my dad said I have to come straight home and watch my sister" Luke frowned.

"Ok…" Ellie sighed nodding.

"Here's a good book for you" Luke said pulling a book titled "The Witch's Almanac".

Ellie took the book in her hand and began flipping through it.

"What's this book doing here? This is…" Ellie suddenly realized how oddly placed this book was.

"Take it…maybe you can learn something not only about Halloween, but about…" Luke quietly whispered.

"Hey Luke Puke! Why don't you help us find a book!" Timmy shouted.

"Yea Puke! Help us!" Dusty agreed.

"Find your own books dweebs!" Ellie dismissed them.

"Use the encyclopedia…" Luke shook waved them off as they glared at him.

"That's a good idea!" Dusty said running over to it.

"Why didn't we think of that before?" Timmy laughed.

Ellie and Luke looked at each other and put the palm of their hand on their forehead sighing at the ignorance. At that moment the Professor came out carrying a good sized toolbox.

"Did everyone find a book?" the Professor asked.

Everyone nodded silently.

"Are you sure? Once I lock up here you won't be able to get back in until tomorrow. Oh yea we are having class if tomorrow to make up for the missed days if nothing else goes awry" the Professor announced.

"Ok then, out you go!" the Professor said shooing everyone out the door and locking it up.

"I'll walk you home" Ellie offered.

"Yea, if you don't mind…" Luke nodded as Dusty and his friends disappeared around a couple buildings and stuck their heads out watching them as they passed not daring to come out and cause trouble with Ellie around.

"You should really just turn around and pop him in the face one good time, and maybe he'll leave you alone" Ellie suggested.

"Yea right! Then I'll get squashed" Luke shrugged.

"You can't let a bully have their way" Ellie explained.

"It's kind of hard when their twice your size" Luke disagreed.

"I've dealt with men who were three times my size, and I'm a girl" Ellie pointed out.

"If you're going to put me down I'd rather just go home by myself" Luke looked at her with watery eyes.

"I-I didn't mean it like that…I just don't want to see you get pushed around" Ellie explained realizing Luke was bit more fragile than she thought.

"My dad didn't teach me how to survive like yours did; and now every time I go to sleep I…last night I had…" Luke shook his head in much frustration stopping.

"You what?" Ellie motioned for him to continue.

"Na…it's nothing…let's just go…I don't want to talk about…" Luke threw his hands up.

"Luke you know you can tell me anything" Ellie reminded him.

"I know Big Sis, but…" Luke was about to say but his younger sister come running toward them.

"Luke you're home!" a young girl with long blond hair came running out dressed in a long white linen dress that came almost down to her ankles wearing a small pair of leather boots.

"Yea the teacher has other stuff to do Nora, where's dad?" Luke smiled at his younger sister.

"He's busy in his shed working on something, he said for you to come see him as soon I saw you" Nora replied.

"Excuse me a minute" Luke said disappearing toward his dad's workshop.

"Hi Big Sis!" Nora smiled.

"Hi Nora" Ellie smiled.

"When are we going to play again?" she asked innocently.

"Soon, I promise" Ellie smiled receiving a hug from her.

"I can't wait, I got a new doll I found I have to show you" Nora said with much enthusiasm.

"Next time you show me ok?" Ellie said as Luke slowly came walking back up.

"I have to stay and help dad, we'll have to start working on our report tomorrow afternoon" Luke said with a bit of disappointment.

"Oh ok…well I'll just read up on our book" Ellie nodded.

"Yea me too, sorry…we'll talk later…I promise!" Luke nodded returning back to his dad's workshop.

"Bye big sis!" Nora waved as she followed her brother.

"Bye Nora!" Ellie said as she returned back home.

When Ellie returned home, she saw that her pumpkins were growing quite rapidly. The patch looked quite lively with flowers and long green vines with different sized pumpkins lying around. The patch was well cultivated and had quite a few pumpkins of various sizes there. At least six were ready to be picked.

"Good!" Ellie thought beginning to carefully pick them and bring them into the house so she could wash them. Maria would be happy to see some good sized pumpkins. Then Ellie thought how she and Joel would enjoy the pumpkin pie Maria would make, perhaps that would smooth things over?

The day was long leaving her with a lot of time to think, so she took out the Witch's Almanac and began flipping through it. There was a lot of information on astrological signs, horoscopes, and about the positioning of different heavenly bodies. Ellie turned the booklet over and looked at the date. It was twenty-one years old. Near the present date on the calendar in the almanac, there were reminders of what the origins of Halloween were and what it means to the practicing witch.

"Hmmm…" Ellie thought as she read knowing some of the information coincided with what she had been told by Marlene growing up. Something else soon caught her attention. There were pages that were titled "A Spell a Day". From old remedies to deal with a headache to spells of protection for one's home, Ellie spent a lot of time reading the recipes and incantations.

This made Ellie particularly curious because she had never run across anything like this before. She wondered if the professor realized he even had anything like this in his overstuffed bookcases. Then Ellie wondered what Luke was going to tell her, and if it was related to what happened to them. She knew her dad wouldn't be much help with his practicality and down to earth attitude. So she decided it was time to start her own investigation and use this project as an excuse for her to start asking questions. The most logical thing to do she thought would be to ask the professor. She smiled closing the book looking at it with much interest.


End file.
